Without You
by Reader0521
Summary: After the Thanos snap, Natasha is erased by the dust and Wanda survives. Five years later, she must reassemble the remaining Avengers for one last attempt to save what has been lost.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I just wanted to give a huge thanks to PinkieScootalooSweetieDash for giving me the idea for this story! Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!**

"You should have gone for the head."

Those were the last words that Thanos spoke before he snapped his fingers and teleported away.

Everything was silent for a moment except for the sounds of Steve and Thor's heavy breathing and Wanda's sobs as she knelt over Vision's body.

"Where'd he go?" Steve asked, incredulous. Had Thanos just retreated? Steve got the odd sense that something was badly wrong here. Then…

"Steve?" Bucky asked in a soft, almost…scared voice. Steve turned around to find Bucky dissolving into some kind of dust or ash. Bucky toppled forward and his body completely dissolved. Steve knelt down and touched the dust, hardly believing his eyes. Was Bucky really gone?

Okoye lay on the ground, panting heavily from the recent battle. She heard footsteps crunching in the dirt, walking towards her.

"Up, general! Up!" T'Challa offered Okoye his hand. "This is no place to die."

Okoye took his hand and attempted to get up but soon fell right back down when she realized she was no longer holding his hand. Wait, what? T'Challa's entire arm had dissolved into dust and the rest of his body quickly followed.

Okoye stood, almost hyperventilating, on the verge of panic. What was going on?

Rocket was leaning against a upturned tree near Groot, catching his breath from the intense fighting. He looked up to make a witty remark towards Groot about saving the day but instead he caught flakes of some kind of dust lifting from Groot.

Soon Groot's body began to dissolve into the dust. "I am Groot," he croaked out.

Rocket reached out towards his friend. "Oh. No, Groot! No…"

Rhodey walked amongst the tall ferns and plants. "Sam!" he called. His friend seemed to have just…vanished.

Rhodey squinted, trying time peer through the leaves of some of the plants. "Sam!"

Dust billowed up from a spot among the ferns. "Huh," Rhodey said to himself. "Wonder what that's all about."

Steve was still kneeling next to Bucky's dust when Natasha burst into the clearing. She lightly touched Steve's arm, and when he looked up towards her, he could see the dust beginning to take her too. He gripped her hand tightly in a futile attempt to keep her with him but she just smiled sadly at him and her body succumbed to the dust.

The survivors made their way into Steve and Thor's little clearing, where they found Wanda kneeling over Vision's body, Thor standing behind Steve, an empty look on his face, and Steve sitting on the floor next to two piles of ashes.

"What is this?" Rhodey asked. "What the hell is going on?

Steve had only one response. "Oh, God."

**Five Years Later…**

The Avengers Compound has been empty for what felt like forever. At least it did to Wanda. After Thanos's snap, the Avengers had been greatly preoccupied, and because of that, they had rarely been able to meet in person. Steve had been gone doing who knows what, and since Natasha was dead there was no longer anyone to take the lead of the Avengers. So Wanda has taken the job over. But not alone.

After the snap, Wanda had taken the responsibility of finding Clint and informing him of what had happened. He'd already known to some degree, because as Wanda had discovered, he'd lost his entire family, and she'd had to be the one to inform him that he'd also lost Nat.

She'd known what he was going through to some degree, having lost Vision, her lover and the only person who made her feel whole, and Natasha, her good friend and someone who was able to completely understand her and her past.

Clint has eventually agreed to return the the Compound with Wanda and help her lead the Avengers in hope that they could somehow find a way to reverse what had been done and save his family. But five years with few successes really takes it out of a person. Clint took nearly every lead that he could find these days, which resulted in him often being away from the Compound and Wanda was usually alone with just her thoughts to keep her company.

That night had been particularly difficult. Wanda couldn't do anything without thinking of Vision. She's done everything she could think of; she'd watched a movie, ate some ice cream, even tried to reach out to some of her fellow Avengers. None of them had responded, and that, more than anything, made Wanda feel worse. What would Vision say if he could see her? Alone, all the time, trying to keep the fragile bonds of the Avengers from breaking. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen another person. It had to have been at least a month.

Wanda closed her eyes and felt tears trace down her face, though she desperately tried to keep them in, and she struggled to contain her sobs. All of that stopped, however, when she heard a familiar voice.

"Oh. Uh, hey, Wanda. What's going on?" She opened her eyes quickly and she found a figure standing in the kitchen.

"Hi, Clint," she said, struggling to keep her voice steady.

He sat down next to her on the couch. "So it's pretty bad tonight, huh?" That was one of the good things about being friends with Clint. He understood her grief, just as she understood his.

Wanda nodded. "Yeah. I just can't stop thinking about him. How he looked. Every time I close my eyes I just see him."

Clint nodded sympathetically. "Maybe it'd be easier if there were more people around to help you through it. You could try getting everyone back together again."

"What do you think I've been _trying_ to do for the past five years?" Wanda asked.

Clint smiled faintly. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry that I haven't been around a whole lot. I just can't sit still anymore. Not while I know that there's a chance that I can save them."

"I know," Wanda said. "I usually just find myself wishing that I'll wake up and it will all have been a dream and we can all be together again."

Clint ruffled her hair. "I know, kiddo. That's a perfectly normal thing to wish. Hell, I wish that sometimes too. But we're gonna fix this, alright? Whatever it takes."

Wanda smiled at him. "Whatever it takes." Wanda yawned hugely, showing Clint exactly how exhausted she was.

"You should sleep, Wanda," said Clint.

"I can't," she said. "Every time I try, I just have nightmares. I can barely sleep anymore."

"Tell you what," Clint said. "You go to sleep and I'll stay here next to you. That way you'll have someone there with you if you do have a nightmare."

Wanda nodded and closed her eyes. "Whatever it takes," she mumbled before she was overtaken by sleep.

Clint smiled sadly. "Whatever it takes."


	2. Chapter 2

The Compound had been filled with activity. This was the first time that the Avengers had all been together in nearly five years. Seeing all of her friends together again ignited a spark of hope inside of Wanda. Maybe there was hope for her fallen friends, after all.

The plan was simple. Go back in time, get the Infinity Stones, reverse the damage that Thanos had done. So when they prepared to time travel, Wanda had no problem telling her friends; "I'll see you in a minute."

But there were complications. Seems like there always are. Wanda and Clint's task was to travel to Vormir and get the Soul Stone. They hadn't, however, planned on this condition.

"You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Clint.

The Red Skull stared blankly at him. "Do I look like a kidder? No. You must lose something that you love in order to obtain the Soul Stone. A soul for a soul."

Clint scoffed. "Nope. No way. There's got to be another way."

Wanda pulled Clint away before he infuriated the Red Skull any further. "You've got to calm down."

"Calm down? Jesus, Wanda, he's asking for one of us to die!"

"I know," said Wanda. "But one life for the lives of billions? Isn't it worth it?"

Clint sighed. "Maybe. But if someone's going to die, it's gonna be me."

"No." Wanda said. "It's not." Clint opened his mouth to retaliate but she cut him off. "If this works, you have your family to take care of. You can see them again. You'll have Natasha again. And I'll be able to see Vision once I'm gone."

"But you're just a kid, Wanda!" said Clint. "You've got a whole life ahead of you."

"Not anymore." Wanda smiled softly at Clint. "After everything, I can't really be considered a kid anymore. Whatever happens, one of us is not leaving here. And I'm not letting it be you."

"And I'm not letting it be you."

They pressed their foreheads together, having just one last moment before the inevitable tragedy that was about to unfold.

Clint grabbed her shoulders and slammed her to the floor, effectively pinning her to the ground and before she could get up he took off towards the cliff edge. "Tell my family I say hello."

Wanda used her telekinesis to throw him away from the cliff's edge. "Looks like you'll be able to do it yourself." She jumped up and nearly got to the edge before she was thrown off her feet by an explosive arrow. _Hell no_, she thought. As he passes her, she swept his legs out from underneath him. He muttered a curse under his breath as he tripped.

Seizing her opportunity, Wanda got up as fast as she could and found herself staring down at the rocky ground at the bottom of the cliff. She could hear Clint getting up behind her so she prepared to make the jump. She tipped forward slightly and felt herself beginning to fall until a hand closed around her wrist.

She was dangling over the cliff edge, only supported by Clint's grasp around her wrist. She could see the frenzied look in his eyes as he tried to pull her up, but she could see in his eyes that he knew the situation was hopeless. There was no way to get Wanda back up without him falling with her.

"Clint," said Wanda. He continued his desperate effort to pull Wanda up. "Look at me. Hey, look at me." He met her eyes and she could see tears already forming in them.

"Don't do it," he said. "Please don't."

"It's okay," said Wanda. "Tell everyone hello for me."

"Wanda-" he began, but she used her telekinesis to force his fingers from around her wrist.

She could see his mouth moving, his eyes widening for a moment, but she couldn't hear what he said because of the wind howling past her ears and she lost her view of Clint as she fell. Time seemed to slow down and she thought about who she would soon be seeing.

Vision. Pietro. The two people she had loved the most and the people that had shaped her life in the best way.

Though she was sorry for what she was leaving behind, Wanda could only feel a vague sense of comfort and an overwhelming sense of _tiredness_.

Before she hit the ground, she whispered out three words. "Whatever it takes." Then she hit the ground and gave in to her tiredness.

Clint watched Wanda hit the ground, watched her blood splatter over the rough rock, and all he felt was numb.

Then, with a flash, the scenery changed and he was standing in some orange world, the ground covered in water, and a glowing orange stone in his hand. Tears ran slowly down his face as he looked down at the stone that had cost so much, the stone that could help bring everyone back. And all he felt towards it was anger and disgust. The price had been way too high.

With another flash, he was back at the Compound. The other Avengers appeared beside him.

"Did we get them all?" asked Steve. They nodded to each other, confirming their victory.

"Are you telling me this actually worked?" said Rhodey.

Clint could hear their shouts of joy and he couldn't bear to take that joy away from them, but he could tell they noticed what had happened by the way that their smiles dropped and they looked around as if counting each other, noticing that there was one less that's there was supposed to be. Ane he could tell that they noticed it was her who was gone when their eyes flicked to the spot that she had been before they left.

"Clint, where's Wanda?" asked Steve.

Clint didn't answer; he didn't have to. The tears still in his face and the empty look in his eyes told it all. Wanda was dead.

"She's gone," Clint said. "Wanda's gone."


	3. Chapter 3

Clint was sure that the end was near. That was, until the portals appeared. Orange magic flared and several portals opened, spilling out their fallen friends. It worked. They were back. Wanda hadn't died for nothing.

Clint caught a glimpse of red hair emerge from one of the portals. Natasha. He would have gone over to see her but at that moment everyone surged forward, charging towards Thanos's army, and Clint lost sight of her.

The battle was as fierce and intense as he had imagined it would be. He emptied his quiver into the enemies and was forces to resort to hand to hand combat after all his arrows were gone, transforming his bow into a bo staff to help him.

A blast from a Chitauri weapon knocked Clint flat on his back, and just before the Chitauri charged him, it was stopped by three bullets to the torso.

Footsteps approached and a pair of hands helped him up. He looked into the eyes of a person he was convinced he'd never seen again.

"That was a close one," said Natasha. "Never thought you'd be so sloppy, Clint, but I guess times are changing. What are you-?" Clint interrupted her by throwing his arms around her and enveloping her in a hug.

"You're alright," he said in relief.

"You're such a _sap_," she said dramatically as they pulled apart, but she had a grin on her face that let him know that she was glad to be back.

"Let's go wreck these guys," said Clint.

The battle had raged on for so long that Clint lost track of time, and he didn't even notice the battle was ending until he saw the desperate fight for the Infinity Gauntlet. He watched it being tossed between Steve, Tony, and Thanos, until Thanos seemed to win, standing tall and grinning widely.

"I am inevitable," he said. He snapped his fingers and Clint braces himself.

Nothing happened. Thanos looked confused and turned over his hand where the Inif you Stones would have sat and found nothing. Then Steve raised his hand.

The six Infinity Stones were there, glistening on Steve's hand.

"I am Steve Rogers," he said.

Steve snapped his fingers.

Steve's funeral was a somber event. There were tears and sorrowful faces everywhere Clint looked. Though the world had been saved, they had lost two incredible heroes and fellow Avengers.

Tony and Pepper stood the closest to Steve's grave, currently laying flowers, maybe whispering final goodbyes. Natasha sat in a bench near the grave, looking lost. Clint decided it was his responsibility to help her. He knew what it was like to lose a close friend.

He took a seat next to her. "Want to tell me what's on your mind?"

Natasha sighed. "Just remembering old times." Clint gave her a pointed look. "Fine. I was thinking about Steve. And Wanda too, I guess. I mean, I was dead for five years and as soon as I come back I've lost two of my closest friends. Doesn't seem like much of an improvement from where I was."

"Which was where?" Clint asked.

"I don't remember," Natasha admitted. "Every time I think about it, I just remember being in that clearing in Wakanda, then there's just some kind of hole in my memory."

"So technically this could actually be an improvement," Clint pointed out.

"Don't get all technical with me, Barton."

Clint grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"I just wish there was something more I could have done to save him," said Natasha.

"I know," said Clint. "But you can't blame yourself. He's the one who made the decision. It was his choice. Not yours or anyone else's."

"I just wish he was still here," said Natasha. She rested her head in his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her and they just stayed there for a while, enjoying being in each other's company. The best friends were finally reunited after five lung years.

Wanda's funeral was much smaller and quieter. It took place at the newly rebuilt Avengers Compound, and, unlike at Steve's funeral, the only people there were people who had known her personally.

Clint stood with his arm around Laura and his kids in front of them with Natasha off to their side. But, no matter what, he couldn't forget the girl who he given everything so that he, and others like him, could have a family again.

Wanda had been given a small memorial in the Compound, nothing grand like Steve's, but Clint thought it was just what she would have wanted. He placed two pictures on it. The first was a picture of her and Pietro looking young and happy and carefree. The second was a picture of the entire Avengers team. As he placed them there, he hopes that wherever she had gone, she was with Vision and Pietro and had found the happiness that had been denied to her for so long while she was alive.

Though the team may have been broken and incomplete without two of its members, Clint hoped that they'd be"Are you alright?" Laura asked him as he stared at the memorial.

Clint nodded. "Can I just get…a minute alone?" Laura nodded sympathetically and ushered Cooper and Lila away. Clint looked down at the memorial again, alone for a moment, until a hand slipped into his. He looked up and saw Natasha standing next to him, wearing an expression similar to his own. Sadness and a little bit of anger over the life that had been taken too soon.

"I'm sorry, Clint," said Natasha.

"Me too," he said. "Even though she's gone, there's some part of me that feels like she's still here, somehow."

"Maybe she is," said Natasha. "Her and Steve both. If you want to tell her anything, now would probably be the time. I'll leave you alone for a bit. And, Clint? Don't stay here for too long. This is no time to be alone." She walked off towards the main group.

Clint stood by the memorial for a long time before he said anything. "Hey, Wanda." He felt a little bit stupid talking to a slab of stone with words engraved into it and two pictures on top, but he tried not to let it bother him. "I wanted to say thank you. It's because of you that I have my family back. And it's because of you that we're all safe now, kiddo. It may be too late, but I just wanted a final goodbye. So, goodbye, Wanda Maximoff. I'll always miss you."

He turned around and left the memorial, not wanting to be around it anymore. She should be standing there, not the chunk of stone with the words _In loving memory of Wanda Maximoff_. She should be there, not far away on some distant planet, her body broken on the ground at the foot of a cliff. She should be there. But she wasn't. Because she had done the most noble thing anyone could do; sacrifice their life for a cause bigger than themselves.

Clint would make sure she was remembered. He'd make sure that her story was passed on, he'd do anything to make sure no one forgets her.

He'd do whatever it takes.


End file.
